Utilities by ownership type
EIA classes every Form EIA-861 respondent by who owns it. These pages compare the types on price, bills and reliability for 2024.
| Ownership type | Utilities | Residential customers | Median ¢ per kWh | Median bill | Median SAIDI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investor-owned utilities | 136 | 95,681,781 | 16.17¢ | $131.47 | 278.7 |
| Electric cooperatives | 548 | 18,370,065 | 13.74¢ | $149.95 | 263.0 |
| Municipal utilities | 440 | 13,225,289 | 12.45¢ | $113.02 | 64.4 |
| Political subdivisions and public power districts | 51 | 3,719,263 | 10.69¢ | $130.41 | 167.0 |
| State-owned utilities | 5 | 1,267,044 | 16.46¢ | $107.52 | 63.5 |
| Retail power marketers | 163 | 16,019,593 | 14.73¢ | $179.11 | — |
| Community choice aggregators | 26 | 5,484,824 | — | — | — |
| All types | 1,413 | 153,795,583 | 13.33¢ | $134.12 | 184.5 |
Utilities with at least 1,000 residential customers. Medians are taken across utilities, so a cooperative with 5,000 members counts the same as an investor-owned utility with five million customers; the customer-weighted US average price was 16.48¢. SAIDI is minutes of interruption per customer including major event days. Types with fewer than five such utilities have no page.
Ownership is a description, not an explanation. Cooperatives tend to serve sparse rural territory with more line per customer; municipal systems are compact; investor-owned utilities cover most large metropolitan areas. Prices also reflect regional fuel costs, climate and state policy.